Typhoon Haiyan – The Aftermath

Typhoon Haiyan, known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, was an exceptionally powerful tropical cyclone that devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, in November 8, 2013. It is the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record, killing over 6,200 people in the Philippines alone. Haiyan is also the strongest storm recorded at landfall, and unofficially the strongest typhoon ever recorded in terms of wind speed. (From wikipedia)

The Story

Last January 29, more than 2 months after the typhoon hit, we (My pastor, me and a photographer friend) went to Tacloban to help some villagers by donating boats and helping them rebuild their houses with the donation of our church, Word for the World, and also to look at the what happened to Tacloban with our own eyes.

As photographers we tell stories by pictures. I am writing this to show and share what I saw on our 2 day trip.

Even before our plane landed you could see the fallen trees and trees without leaves.

Seconds before our plane landed.

The airport, more than 2 months after the storm hit. The airport is now operational but you could still see how badly it was hit.

A Spray painted sign.

On our way to our first destination, you could see the aftermath of the typhoon.

The fishing village where almost all if not all of their boats and houses were destroyed.

A broken mirror.

Inside the fishing village

A kid playing

Pastor Raymond Ladao and Bro. Pete Ilagan praying for the villagers.

There are still some parts of Tacloban where their are no electricities.

C130 plane

People who lost their houses are living in tents.

Broken cars

Damaged Cars everywhere.

Cars that I can’t imagine how it got there.

On our way to our second destination we passed by a boat that was in the middle of the sidewalk.

The boats that our church will be donating to the villagers.

Bangon Tacloban (Rise Up Tacloban)

The Philippine Flags infront of Tacloban City Hall

Some of the scenes on our way back to the place we were staying

A Jeepney

Locals doing their laundry on the street

When we got to where we were staying locals told us that they just found a body about 30min before we arrived.

A pile of clothes

Locals showing us that there is still a dead body underneath this big tree.

A look inside one of the houses that was directly hit by the stormsurge

Me and my photographer friend went back to the village when sunset came to take more pictures

Group of kids

A fisherman cooking their dinner

Me and Milk Mendoza(Philippine Based Photographer)

Tacloban is slowly rebuilding the city and recovering from the devastation that hit them. Filipino’s are known as one of the world’s happiest people. Even with all the things that happened to them, the locals can still smile and know that one day Tacloban will rise again.

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About Laya Gerlock

Laya Gerlock is a Portrait and Product photographer based in the Philippines. His passion is teaching and sharing his knowledge in Photograpy and has been doing this for 6 years. You can follow his work on his web page, follow him on Flickr and if you happen to come by Cubao, Quezon City (To Manila, Philippines) he gives a great workshop!

John Aldred is a portrait and animal photographer in Lancaster, England. you can see some of his work on his website, or find him on Facebook or Twitter.

Stefan Kohler is a conceptual photographer, specialized in mixing science, technology and photography. He is one of the founders of Kamerakind, based in Traunstein, Southern Germany. You can follow him on Facebook or on 500px.com

Liron Samuels is a wildlife and commercial photographer based in Israel.

When he isn't waking up at 4am to take photos of nature, he stays awake until 4am taking photos of the night skies or time lapses.